African Swine Fever hits 2 swine farms in Estonia

African Swine Fever has been discovered on 2 more small-size commercial pig farms in Estonia, according to figures reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The largest of the 2 farms, located in eastern Estonia's Tartu county, had 1,186 pigs on the premises. 2 animals were found infected on July 28 and the remainder of the farm's pig inventory had to be culled.

On the second farm, in Järva county, in the heart of Estonia, 1 pig was found infected a day earlier. In this case 478 pigs had to be culled.

African Swine Fever is a contagious and lethal viral disease for which no vaccine exists. The disease usually transmits through direct contact, swill or scraps feeding and ticks.

Check our online Pig Progress map for an overview of ASF outbreaks in the European Union.

Backyard farms

In addition to these 2 small commercial farms, 2 backyard farms were also reported infected – 1 with 6 pigs in Viljandi county (2 pigs infected); and 1 with 3 pigs in Valga county (1 pig infected).

The discovery comes roughly 1 week after the first domestic pigs were found to be affected, on farms sized 355 and 191 pigs – both in Viljandi county, as well as on a backyard farm in Valga county.

It is worth noting that the 6 outbreaks in (backyard) farms have occurred in 3 zones spread out over Estonia.

Backyard farm Lithuania

Lithuania also reported an outbreak of African Swine Fever to the OIE. On July 31, the virus was discovered on a backyard farm in Kaunas province, in the centre of the country. The farm had 3 pigs, of which 1 died of ASF. The other two were culled.

ARTICLE: ASF on EU farm: First hand accountDespite taking biosecurity very seriously, Danish-owned Rupinskai Farm in eastern Lithuania became the first farm in the European Union to be hit by the recent wave of African Swine Fever outbreaks. Pig Progress travelled to Lithuania to reconstruct what happened.

African Swine Fever has been discovered in 4 countries in the European Union since early 2014. The disease has been around in Europe since 2006, having entered in Georgia, Armenia, and spreading north through Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.